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"Participants: Paul Martin, Canadian Minister of Health and Welfare, interviewed by William Bradford Huie and Elliot Haynes. Topics: Increased prosperity, economic and population growth in Canada, comparison between U.S. and Canadian standards of living, problems of immigration, heavy taxation, lack of social services in Canada, and strained relations between the United States and Britain."--Longines Chronoscope Interviews, May 15, 1953 (200LW585).

Sandwiched between the fictional countries of Northland and Southland lies Midrain Province. Drawing upon a hypothetical situation involving mounting tensions between the Southlanders and the Midrainians, this seminar, moderated by NYU Professor Arthur Miller and filmed on location at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, explores the role of propaganda in situations where genocide is threatened and examines how the use of propaganda during the Holocaust era informs public reaction to its dissemination today. Compelling questions spark a crackling discussion with echoes of Rwanda, Bosnia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as positions that seem clear in the abstract quickly become muddied by the reality of lives hanging in the balance. Panelists include Princeton Univer [...]

At Guantanamo Bay detention camp, history has proved that concepts of right and wrong can all too easily become distorted by expediency and ambiguity. This program examines the lives of high-profile individuals from both sides of the razor wire who have intimate knowledge of the horrors of Gitmo: Murat Kurnaz, a former inmate who was detained without trial for five years; former Navy officer Matthew Diaz, whose career was ruined by disclosing classified names of detainees to the Center for Constitutional Rights; Diane Beaver, author of a notorious memo defending the use of extreme interrogation techniques; and criminal prosecutor Gonzalo Boye, who has set himself the task of bringing representatives of the Bush administration to justice for crimes against humanity. Called "a fascinat [...]

As the United States reshaped Manifest Destiny for use in the 20th century, the concept came to be equated not with conquest and expansion, but with the spread of American values and institutions. Focusing on World War I and the Russian Revolution, the section "A New World Order" traces the deflected trajectory of President Wilson's idealistic plan to export democracy - a plan that ended in compromises and broken dreams. "Containment," which begins with World War II, examines the spread of communism in Asia and U.S. opposition to it via the Kennan policy of containment and the Truman Doctrine. And "Quagmire" discusses how the Kennedy and Johnson administrations felt duty-bound to escalate American political and military involvement in Vietnam as a part of an ideological proxy war bet [...]

With the closing of the American West, Manifest Destiny was in need of new direction. The section "New Frontiers" considers implications of Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis as it scrutinizes U.S. history from the end of the Gilded Age to the brink of the Spanish-American War. "An Empire of Liberty" takes a step back to assess aspects of Manifest Destiny from its birth during the pre-Revolutionary era through Reconstruction. And "Benevolent Assimilation" provides an in-depth look at the Spanish-American War, the Philippines Insurrection, the annexations of Puerto Rico and Hawaii, and U.S. intervention in China during the Boxer Rebellion to illustrate how expanded economic influence, military might, and presidential powers contributed to U.S. imperialism during the administra [...]

With the collapse of the U.S.S.R., suddenly the U.S. was the sole superpower - a militaristic global leader with no clear enemy or foreign policy goal. The section "New World Disorder" illustrates the unprecedented turbulence of the fractured post - Cold War world during the George H. W. Bush administration: the Tiananmen Square protests, the U.S. invasion of Panama, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Gulf War, ethnic cleansing in the Balkans and Rwanda, and famine in Somalia. "Indispensable Nation" analyzes President Clinton's inability to create a demilitarized Manifest Destiny based solely on trade and economic growth. And "Smarter Than History" uses pivotal events from the George W. Bush presidency - the 9/11 attacks and the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq - to examine the compro [...]

Explores the factors that affect foreign exchange rates as well as how the exchange rates impact the global economy. A case study analyzes how the fluctuating exchange rates affected two competing corporations: U.S.-based Caterpillar and Japan-based Komatsu. The second case study shows how the system of floating exchange rates coped with the shock of the oil crisis of 1973.

Explains how and why countries manage their currencies. A case study explores the problems created by the rapid and large appreciation of the dollar caused by an expansive fiscal policy combined with a tight monetary policy in the United States during the mid 1980s. Explores the benefits and downsides of policy coordination in a case study of the United Kingdom joining the European Monetary System.

This informative program provides an accurate profile of the United Nations-its organization, structure, and purpose. It covers the organization from its history and status as an international zone in New York City, to explanations of its role as mediator between developed and developing nations, which often find themselves politically divided. UN officials offer candid revelations about tensions in the UN Security Council, how the balance of power is maintained between negotiating nations, and the changes brought about by the end of the Cold War. The many ways that satellite agencies such as UNICEF impact today's global political environment are discussed.

Nearly everyone on the planet knows of the United Nations, but far fewer understand the important functions it performs in our complicated world. Michael Douglas narrates this compelling introduction to the work of the organization. Outlining the UN's creation and history, and incorporating interviews with Secretary-General Kofi Annan and other prominent leaders, the program illustrates the UN's widespread efforts in peacekeeping, police training, land mine removal, election monitoring, disaster relief, and health initiatives to combat HIV/AIDS and other epidemics. The roles of UNICEF and other subgroups are also explored. A United Nations Production.

A cornerstone of the United Nations, the Security Council takes on some of the organization's most difficult duties. This program highlights the Council's role in preventing conflicts, resolving disputes, and occasionally initiating military action against an aggressor. Beginning in the era of the original "P-5" membership-the U.S., the U.S.S.R., China, France, and Great Britain-the video explores the history of the Council, examining dramatic moments in the Korean conflict, the Cuban missile crisis, the prelude to the invasion of Iraq, and other cases in which members have struggled to balance their own interests with those of the world body. A United Nations Production.

Although dogged by scandal after his term as Secretary-General, Kurt Waldheim steered the United Nations through a precarious phase of global history-in which the Vietnam War and the space race were the most prominent of many international dramas. Waldheim's involvement in Turkish-Cypriot diplomacy and several attempts at conflict resolution in the Middle East and Central Asia are also notable, as well as his spearheading of numerous international conferences. This program presents an overview of the Waldheim mandate and records the Austrian leader's detailed reflections on his challenges and accomplishments as Secretary-General.

During his two terms as United Nations Secretary-General, Javier Perez de Cuellar encountered and made use of several opportunities for international conflict resolution. He helmed the organization through the aftermath of the Falklands War and promoted the Contadora Group as a force for Central American peace and stability. Under Perez de Cuellar, the UN was also engaged in the negotiation process for Namibian independence and many issues affecting Africa and the Mediterranean region. In this program, the Peruvian statesman contemplates his term as Secretary-General and its relationship to previous and subsequent global developments.

Despite Boutros Boutros-Ghali's diplomatic accomplishments, his tenure as United Nations Secretary-General was marked by a tragic period in African history and a difficult political transition for the world body. In this program, Boutros-Ghali sheds light on global events in which the UN participated-or perhaps should have been more involved. The Egyptian scholar conveys his opinion that peacekeeping missions overburdened UN resources during his mandate, that warnings about Rwanda's ethnic conflict were ineffective, and that American officials intended, through the brusque removal of Boutros-Ghali from power, to caution his successors. Contains graphic images of genocide victims.

Professing the goal of "bringing the United Nations closer to the people," Secretary-General Kofi Annan ushered in a new era of UN involvement with international social and medical issues. This program features the Ghanaian-born diplomat's ideas about the role of the UN in today's world, with particular attention to the so-called Millennium Goals of ending poverty and inequality, increasing access to education, fighting AIDS, protecting the environment, and preventing humanitarian crises due to violent conflicts. Annan also poignantly shares his thoughts about the loss of Sergio Vieira de Mello and 22 others in the 2003 bombing of the UN's Baghdad headquarters.

No one escapes Guantanamo Bay detention camp unscathed. This program - the 92-minute feature-length version - examines the lives of four high-profile individuals from both sides of the razor wire who have intimate knowledge of the horrors of Gitmo: Murat Kurnaz, a former inmate who was detained without trial for five years; former Navy officer Matthew Diaz, whose career was ruined by disclosing classified names of detainees to the Center for Constitutional Rights; Diane Beaver, author of a notorious memo defending the use of extreme interrogation techniques; and criminal prosecutor Gonzalo Boye, who has set himself the task of bringing representatives of the Bush administration to justice for crimes against humanity. "Not an agit prop documentary, and none of these characters fit con [...]

In the E.U., internal borders have been made transparent to promote the free flow of commerce. Its external borders, however, are another matter. This program surveys the high-tech methods being used to secure the E.U.'s borders against refugees and asylum-seekers alike while speaking with human smugglers, who both assist and exploit their clients; illegal immigrants, who see Europe as their only safe haven; and European bureaucrats, who in the absence of an overarching E.U. policy feel compelled to keep as many immigrants out of "Fortress Europe" as possible, to please their increasingly anti-immigrant electorates.

Five decades after the inception of the Geneva Refugee Convention, the European immigration system is on the verge of collapse as a flood of people fleeing persecution and violence threatens to engulf the E.U. This program looks at the processing of refugees and asylum-seekers in Sweden and Britain-typified by a lengthy detention punctuated by interrogation and a summary legal hearing-as the UN and the E.U. seek to address human rights issues. The newsmaking stories of a Bangladeshi detainee's suicide, a Kosovar Albanian detainee's deportation to certain death, and the struggle of Cameroonian political activist George Ekontang are spotlighted. The exploitation of xenophobia as a political tool is also considered. Some content may be objectionable.

Peter Ekwiri, a Ugandan, is only one of many people whose applications for asylum in the E.U. have been denied. And like many other blacks from Africa considered "undesirable" by European governments such as Sweden and Germany, he was forcibly deported-but not to his home country. This program uses Ekwiri's case as a springboard to reveal a corrupt system in which E.U. police and immigration authorities clandestinely pay Ghana to act as a transfer point-in reality a dumping ground-for black deportees. And life in Ghana usually means years of imprisonment and an obscure death. The program also investigates other similar cases while exploring the statistical implications of European racial bias against black Africans.